


Flowers in Sunlight

by Ashwattaman



Category: Yo-Kai Watch Shadowside, 妖怪ウォッチ | Yo-Kai Watch, 妖怪ウォッチ シャドウサイド
Genre: Elementary School, F/M, Fluff, Please read the notes before commenting, childhood friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 08:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17763722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashwattaman/pseuds/Ashwattaman
Summary: A new school year begins with the blooming spring flowers. Perhaps friendship may spring with a friend who's always there, but never speaks...





	Flowers in Sunlight

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It's me again, I feel I should address a few things before I start this oneshot.
> 
> First of all, this is another work of mine that deals with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), which a complicated condition and one I have myself. I can not guarantee that my depiction is accurate to a case you or someone else may have, as it's based on my own experiences and my own research, as well as the Manga and JDrama Hikari to Tomo ni (which is an excellent work and I highly recommend it). Please remember I can not be perfect nor do I expect myself to be such.
> 
> Second of all, this work deals with a fan character of mine, one that might've been seen in a particular long fic I have on another fan fiction hosting site. It's within canon to that universe and this could be considered a prequel to a Shadowside series I could be working on. However, I think it can still be enjoyed without prior knowledge.

The year was 2032, a lot had changed with time, yet a lot stayed the same. It was still a world where humans and yokai lived harmoniously, though they mostly stayed within their realms. Though need be, a yokai could appear in front of a human without the need of a specialized wristwatch. This applied to a particular blonde haired girl named Mai Suzuki.

 

She had gotten older and pursued her career goal of becoming a special needs counselor, until finally landing such a career after much studying in her home country and even abroad. Though she knew one thing was absolutely vital for the path she chose.

 

That being she couldn't sacrifice her kindness and patience. It would be rough, she would have bad days like everyone else, but she had to keep her heart strong. Since after all, someone might need that kind heart of hers…

 

“Why does this keep happening!? I’m too old to be running like a klutz!” Mai asked to herself in a panicked tone, scrambling out the door with a bagel in her mouth and purse in hand. She was thankful her new job was close to her house, so she didn’t have to worry about missing a train or a bus, but still.

 

“Maybe you should think twice about hitting the snooze button,” One of Mai’s longtime companions, Nyanmajo, quipped at the blonde girl. While Sailornyan had a lot royal duties, Nyanmajo still lived alongside Mai, becoming a teacher herself, but of the magical arts herself.

 

“It’s always so tempting though…” Mai responded, before shaking her head a little. The two reached where their paths would split off. “Anywho, I’ll see you after work, Nyanmajo!”

 

“Same here!” Nyanmajo waved goodbye for the day, the two going their own ways.

 

Thankfully for Mai, she made it just on the dot in terms of time. She wasn’t late, managing to land into her office just as things got started. It was the start a new elementary school year, and Mai was on her first day as well. She wondered what it would be like, what experiences she would witness in this new year.

 

The day progressed for a few hours, the morning becoming the early afternoon, yet feeling quite slow. Nobody really came in to her office, it was a bit lonely. Well, aside from a few small plush animals and office organizers. Though, that’s what she got for dealing with a niche thing that even to this day, still wasn’t as aware as say, in America where she studied. Her work currently seemed to be mostly looking over orientation papers and responding to emails.

 

“Well, it’s my lunch break, so it shouldn’t hurt to go to the break room, right?” Mai thought aloud to herself, slowly walking over to the break room. She had introduced herself to the staff a day prior and got a few things set up in her office, so perhaps this would be a chance to get to know everyone at least a little bit better.

 

Right about as she slid the door open to the staff break room, she heard a conversation going on.

 

“Man, it’s horrible, and on the first day no less,” One staff member, likely a teacher, complained about.

 

“It can’t be that bad, you were teaching first graders before break period, right?” Another staff member asked. “It can’t be that much of a pain...”

 

“But it is! Of all the students in the world, my class has to have a student who had to run and scream during my music class!” The first voice finished, Mai slowly walking in.

 

“Is...Uhh...something the matter, Ms. Tanaka?” Mai asked politely to the first teacher, the latter rubbing her temples a bit.

 

“Yes, I just had a troublesome student before break period, that’s all, Ms. Suzuki,” The rather pent up music teacher, Ms. Tanaka, responded with a hefty sigh. “I’ve never seen a student act like that…”

 

“It's probably because that child never has his parents home to teach him how to behave right,” the other teacher commented. “That child must think they can just do what they want here! What a troublesome load…”

 

Troublesome student...The word floated through Mai’s head as she closed her eyes in deep thought. “Do you want me to look into things? I-It’s my speciality after all...”

 

“Oh that’s right,” The second staff member added in. “You’re the special ed specialist, aren’t you?”

 

“That’s correct,” Mai answered with a gentle voice and nod. “Who’s the child I should look out for?”

 

“I think his name is Touma Tsukinami, quiet kid with blue hair” Ms. Tanaka responded with a shrug. “Good luck trying to get him to speak up, let alone trying to fix him.”

 

Mai didn’t want to fight back. Her job wasn’t to “fix” students, but rather help and guide them without forcing a fix on their disabilities. It was something nobody could control, and Mai sure as hell wasn’t going to try and fix it. 

 

She just gave a simple nod and was silently on her way out, keeping an eye out for this child.

 

* * *

 

The halls were long and quiet, as most were within the classrooms trying to learn. 

 

However, it was only most children and staff members alike that were inside classrooms. Mai kept slowly walking through the echoey hallways, the clack of her shoes on the tile being heard.

 

Soon enough, Mai saw something, or rather someone cowering under a desk, their knees up to their face and matching the description of the child she was told to search for.

 

“Touma?” Mai gently asked, kneeling down to the level of the desk.

 

Touma didn’t seem to respond to the adult, only briefly turn his head a little to look at Mai, before turning back.

 

“Would you like to go somewhere a bit more quiet? I think music class is going to be starting up again…” Mai slowly and softly stated to the boy, making sure not to be too loud or fast. She reached out her hand a little. “Just give me a nod or shake of your head, no need to speak.”

 

A few brief moments passed, before Touma slowly nodded his head, taking a hold of Mai’s hand.

 

The two walked through the hall, hand in hand before reaching to Mai’s office. It was more of a classroom, but a bit smaller than the main rooms, but had a large couch right across from Mai’s desk. But it was more of a welcome thing, as some students might need to work in here if they can’t take being in a normal classroom. Plus, it was still quite clean, aside from a few things on Mai’s desk. 

 

Not a single word was uttered from Touma, the child just quietly sat on the couch. Mai quietly got to looking over some papers once more, seeing if she might have missed something when she had all that time to look over those papers. That was work, just look over papers and respond to emails.

 

Minutes of solid silence passed through, until Mai noticed something with Touma. The boy started to eye a very fluffy pink plush cat on Mai’s desk, slowly reaching for it.

 

“Oh? Would you like to hold Carnation there?” Mai gently asked, pointing to the small fluffy cat on her desk. Touma nodded in response, Mai handing over the pink cat to the boy. 

 

Touma was pretty enamored with the pink kitty, holding and petting with it gently as if it were a real cat. Mai couldn’t help but look at the sight and smile a little. It made her wonder if the troublesome aspect Ms. Tanaka was saying was completely overblown.

 

“You know, I heard about you because you ran out screaming from Ms. Tanaka’s music class...Do you just not like loud noises?” Mai asked, deciding eye contact might make things more uncomfortable for Touma.

 

“It was too loud in there…” Touma spoke up, still gently petting Carnation. “...I don’t know how the other kids handle it…Same when they all scream and talk at once...”

 

“Quietness and soft things are a lot better, yeah?” Mai responded sweetly. “It’s okay, I don’t like loud things either.”

 

Touma just nodded again in response to the question, Mai getting back to work and letting Touma be. It might be best if he was given his own space.

 

Mai kept looking through her work email, checking and responding if need be to any messages from coworkers. It seemed she had gone through them all, until a new one appeared right in her inbox, seeming to be sent right now.

 

Where the email hailed from was a bit startling to the average blonde girl, being sent right from the massive DNA Research Facility in town.

 

And that someone being the chief of research, Akira Tsukinami.

 

Mai was a bit startled at first, before quietly opening it, hoping it wasn’t some appointment she was assigned to without notice.

 

Aside from the contact information at the start of the email, Mai began to read.

 

_ Dear Ms. Suzuki, _

 

_ I apologize that neither me nor my wife were able to personally speak with you regarding this, and that this email came late.  _

 

_ Our son, Touma, is enrolling at the school you’re working at, and I know you specialize in assisting with disabled children. You see, Touma has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), we found out that when he was three.  _

 

_ If you can, please help Touma, we know we aren’t there as much as we would like to be for him. We want the best for him, and we hope you can provide the guidance he needs.  _

 

_ I hope this email can get to you as soon as possible. _

 

_ Sincerely, _

 

_ Akira Tsukinami, Chief of Research _

 

The blonde woman was a bit shocked to see what she was reading, to think someone so important was the father of such a child…

 

Mai quickly got to work on a response email.

 

_ Sorry for taking a while to respond! _

 

_ You’ll be thankful to hear that a teacher needed me to meet with Touma, and I hope to continue working with him. I’ll try my best to find out his homeroom teacher and say I’ll be here to work with him! _

 

_ Take care! _

 

_ Sincerely, _

 

_ Mai Suzuki _

 

After sending the response email, Mai slowly checked the time in the corner of her computer. It had been at least an hour since the two got to her office, goodness how time seems to fly...

 

Getting out of her desk chair, Mai slowly walked over to the couch Touma was on.

 

“Do you want to try going back to class?” Mai softly asked the boy. “Music class has long been over, I think things might have quieted down a bit…”

 

It took a few moments, but Touma nodded and gently muttered out. “Is it okay if I can keep them…?”

 

Mai was a bit confused at first, but she realized he meant the fluffy pink kitty.

 

“Of course, they can be your friend, as will I,” Mai responded, extending her hand gently to guide Touma back to class and have a word with his homeroom teacher.

 

After a bit of walking into each of the first grade classrooms to see which one was which, they eventually found the class Touma belonged to, the homeroom for one such Ms. Saito.

 

“Uhh, Ms. Saito?” Mai asked, looking at the teacher as Touma walked back to his desk, pink cat still clutched in his hands. “C-could we please speak for a moment?”

 

“Sure,” Ms. Saito stated, before getting up. The two women closed the classroom door, and Ms. Saito took a moment to give a heavy breath and stare at Mai.

 

“Just...What were you doing with Touma?” Ms. Saito asked, Mai gently holding up her hand as to say she could explain.

 

“I’m the Special Needs Counselor and Assistant,” Mai calmly explained as best she could. “I found out Touma ran out of Music class so I took him back to my office so he could calm down...His father sent me an email explaining how he’s not like other children…”

 

“Can’t you just fix him?” Ms. Tanaka asked strently, Mai giving a shocked look.

 

“What?” Mai responded with in a soft, surprised gasp.

 

“If he’s not like the other children, make him like the other children,” Ms. Takana responded harshly, giving a rather cold glare. “I mean isn’t one of his parents a chief of DNA research? Shouldn’t have they been able to fix their child?”

 

While Mai had a kind heart, she knew she was being pushed pretty hard. She wasn’t one for raising her voice, but she knew fighting for what she believed in sometimes was the right thing to do.

 

“No child I assist with needs to be ‘fixed’,” Mai spoke up, keeping herself coolheaded, but her voice with impact. “They just need more help than us, and I was going to ask if I could provide that help he needs during class. Understand?”

 

Ms. Tanaka was a bit shot down, as a few brief moments passed. The other woman bit her lip and slowly nodded. “Yes...Though during Lunch Recess he’s own his own, got it?”

 

“Understood,” Mai responded with, still keeping her calm attitude.

 

With that, the day went along mostly the same, Mai now working alongside Touma to help him if needed.

 

Finally, the day had ended, which while hectic was a good day at the very least. The first day of school was never all that stressful. The blonde woman waited for Touma to get ready to leave with his things. It didn’t seem like nobody was there to take the boy back home, so Mai looked a bit worried.

 

“Touma? Do you want me to walk you home?” Mai politely asked, the boy shaking his head.

 

“It’s okay...My parents always work late...and I don’t live that far away…” Touma spoke up, before holding up the carnation pink cat to Mai. “Do you need her back…?”

 

Mai shook her head. “No, she’s your friend now. Remember that even if I’m not there, she’s there for you. Carnation will make you feel safe and happy when you need it, okay?”

 

Touma nodded, making sure Carnation the fluffy pink cat was kept in absolute safety with him as he walked on back home.

 

With the two parting their ways for the day, the long day had truly ended. Now all Mai had to do was get things ready and head back before starting a new day…

 

* * *

 

 

A new day, a new start was upon everyone now. Mai was thankfully, a little less scrambling out the door this time and walked out much less frantically.

 

The morning classes went smoothly, but things had to break up a little for the lunch and recess break. Even though she would take Touma to her office to study music, Mai mostly kept inside to get things set up and get the assignments from Ms. Tanaka.

 

So in the meantime, the children were outside playing and releasing their energy before going back to class.

 

Touma was pretty content just sitting on a nearby bench with Carnation, just the two of them. He wasn’t really all that much into all the yelling and running with each other. 

 

A ball nearby was kicked near where Touma was sitting, a group of kids running to go retrieve it. The group of children took a glance at the shy boy, whispering things to each other, before one of them piped up.

 

“Why do you have something so pink and fluffy?” One of the kids asked.

 

Touma was a bit silent, stuttering to think of a response to say.

 

“That’s a girl’s toy isn’t it?!” Another one of the kids pointed out. “You’re a boy! Why do you have such a thing!?”

 

The group of kids kept snickering and making fun of Touma, leaving the boy distraught and confused. Why were they laughing at him? What was he doing wrong? Why were they so loud!? He covered his ears as best he could, still keeping Carnation held in one of his hands.

 

Noises kept getting louder and louder, making Touma feel absolutely at a pressurizing point, before one voice came out among them with a loud “HEY!”

 

It was another girl, being around Touma’s age with deep brown eyes and little tiny brown braids on both sides of her face.

 

“What makes you think you’re better for picking on someone?” The girl asked with a huff. “Weren’t we getting a ball?”

 

“Yeah but don’t you think it’s dumb a boy is with-” One of the children said, only for the girl to put her foot down. 

 

“Picking on someone isn’t right! Look, you’re scaring him! I’ll teach you a lesson if I have to!’ The girl spoke up to the bullies, before tossing the ball back to them as hard as she could. It was enough to scare the bullies away, grabbing the ball and hightailing out of there.

 

The girl then turned over to Touma, looking concerned. “Are you okay? Sorry that they were giving you trouble…”

 

Touma nodded, giving the most quiet “yeah…” possible as he took his hands off his ears, but still clutched Carnation close.

 

“She’s cute,” The girl pointed out the fluffy plush companion. “What’s her name?”

 

Touma was quiet for a few moments, before finally speaking up a little. “Her name is Carnation…”

 

“That’s a pretty name!” The girl answered, being in awe. “I’m Natsume, by the way!”

 

“I’m Touma…!” Touma spoke up, seeming to be quite happy.

 

“That’s also a pretty name! I’m not in your class, but I think we can still be friends…!” Natsume finished with, the two seeming to be quite happy.

 

The two kept hanging around each other and trying to maintain conversation, before the bell rang for everyone to go back on inside and resume their classes. While Natsume and Touma went their own ways, there was still something there it seemed like.

 

* * *

 

 

Years had come and gone by, Touma and Natsume being now in their early teens. A lot had happened between that day and now, there being some drift, but the two ended up catching up a lot through a turn of fate it seemed like. 

 

Natsume went over to bring a book Touma forgot at school, but seeing a flower shop display a certain type of flower in beautiful ribbon wrapped bouquets made a memory click back in Natsume’s mind. This gave the girl an idea, running into the store to see if they had a little something, before darting on back out with the small thing in her jacket pocket.

 

Soon enough, Natsume arrived to Touma’s home, ringing the doorbell.

 

“Sorry for coming by, but you accidentally left this in the school library today,” Natsume apologized handing over the book to the blue haired boy.

 

“It’s okay...sometimes it happens…” Touma responded a bit sheepishly, taking the book, as Natsume popped in another question.

 

“By the way...Do you still have Carnation with you?” Natsume asked, Touma seeming confused for a moment, before knowing exactly what she was talking about.

 

Touma answered Natsume with a nod, allowing her to come inside and sit on the living room couch as he looked through his room.

 

Despite all the roughness Touma had endured, Carnation was always with him, being on his bed. While she was starting to show a little bit of age, Carnation was shown to be absolutely well taken care of.

 

Within a flash, Touma was back downstairs, Carnation in hand. Natsume was pleasantly surprised to still see the fluffy pink companion with him after all these years.

 

“Can I see her for a little bit? It won’t take too long…” Natsume asked, Touma, while puzzled initially, still agreed to hand the cat over. 

 

Natsume reached into her pocket to get what she had to pick up at the flower shop: a cute little lacey pink and white ribbon, accenting the cat quite nicely. She tied it into a little bow around the cat’s neck, presenting it back to Touma.

 

“Tada! I thought this would look nice on her!” Natsume cheerfully announced, Touma smiling quite a bit and even starting to blush as he held his longtime fluffy friend back

 

“T-Thank you...Natsume…!” Touma thanked, while still being a lot like his usual quiet self, was overjoyed. It was a small thing, but it meant a lot to him. It wasn’t long before a gentle smooch landed on the boy’s cheek.

 

“No problem, it’s what you two deserve,” Natsume smiled, being just as happy Touma was.

 

They say sometimes ribbons connects friendships together, uniting people happily and together. Perhaps the ribbon around the boy’s plush companion was now a sign of an unbreakable bond of true friendship.


End file.
